BJP president Nitin Gadkari's newly-constituted team has come in for stinging criticism by actor-turned-MP Shatrughan Sinha who said some of the most deserving people have been left out.

BJP president Nitin Gadkari's newly-constituted team has come in for stinging criticism by actor-turned-MP Shatrughan Sinha who said some of the most deserving people have been left out.

Two days after the much-awaited team of office bearers was announced, Sinha on Thursday refuted suggestions that he was a contender for any post, but felt party stalwart and former union minister Yashwant Sinha should have been included.

Yashwant Sinha, a former leader of opposition in the Bihar assembly, has held key portfolios at the centre including those of finance and external affairs.

"Bihar assembly polls are most crucial for the party in the near future, yet a leader of the calibre of Yashwant Sinha has been kept out of the team. Some of the people who could have been avoided have been taken at the cost of some of the most deserving people," he told PTI.

Sinha claimed that the team was constituted without consulting "people who matter like my friend and leader of opposition Sushma Swaraj and some other top leaders".

"Being a senior and matured leader, I do not want to break party discipline by making any undesirable comments but I am certainly worried and to certain extent unhappy with the composition of the team," he said.